Still Life

A GMA Book Club Pick (A Novel)

By: Sarah Winman

Narrated by: Sarah Winman

Length: 14 hrs and 54 mins

Publisher's summary

A Good Morning America Book Club Pick | A Veranda Magazine Book Club Pick

A captivating, bighearted, richly tapestried story of people brought together by love, war, art, flood, and the ghost of E. M. Forster, by the celebrated author of Tin Man.

Tuscany, 1944: As Allied troops advance and bombs fall around deserted villages, a young English soldier, Ulysses Temper, finds himself in the wine cellar of a deserted villa. There, he has a chance encounter with Evelyn Skinner, a middle-aged art historian who has come to Italy to salvage paintings from the ruins and recall long-forgotten memories of her own youth. In each other, Ulysses and Evelyn find a kindred spirit amidst the rubble of war-torn Italy, and set off on a course of events that will shape Ulysses's life for the next four decades.

As Ulysses returns home to London, re-immersing himself in his crew at The Stoat and Parot—a motley mix of pub crawlers and eccentrics—he carries his time in Italy with him. And when an unexpected inheritance brings him back to where it all began, Ulysses knows better than to tempt fate, and returns to the Tuscan hills.

With beautiful prose, extraordinary tenderness, and bursts of humor and light, Still Life is a sweeping portrait of unforgettable individuals who come together to make a family, and a deeply drawn celebration of beauty and love in all its forms.

©2021 Sarah Winman (P)2021 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

Winner of the InWords Literary Award

A Good Morning America Book Club Pick

A Veranda Magazine Book Club Pick

A Parade Best Book of the Year

One of:

The Millions's Most Anticipated Books of 2021

Bookbub's The Best Historical Fiction to Read This Fall

Parade’s 25 Books We’ve Loved Reading This Fall

Parade's Best Book of the Year

Veranda's 25 Best New Books for Fall 2021

Lit Hub’s Best Books of the Week November

"A tonic for wanderlust and a cure for loneliness. It’s that rare, affectionate novel that makes one feel grateful to have been carried along. Unfurling with no more hurry than a Saturday night among old friends, the story celebrates the myriad ways love is expressed and families are formed….Endlessly charming...The novel never feels anything less than captivating because Winman creates such a flawless illusion of spontaneity, an atmosphere capable of sustaining these characters’ macabre wit, comedy of manners and poignant longing." —The Washington Post

“The incredible storytelling, lovable characters, and sweeping settings make this novel an absolute delight, proving that serious fiction does not have to be only dark and depressing.” —Real Simple

“Sarah Winman’s sweeping Still Life is a parade of small stories, intimate connections and complex characters whose lives illuminate the tedium and cataclysms of the 20th century. . . . The real magic of Still Life is the elevation of the ordinary, the unabashed consecration of human experiences. . . . Sentence after sentence, character by character, Still Life becomes poetry.” —New York Times Book Review

Beautiful, just beautiful

This book is deep and emotional from start to finish. The narration is perfect. You will fall in love with every character in this book. I’m going to read it again and again!!

Fabulous story, brilliantly written, superbly performed

This is one of the best books I’ve read all year! I highly recommend this book for anyone who enjoys historical fiction, good development of characters and a little whimsy.

wondrous

best book and narration I've heard in a long time. thank you, thank you, thank you!

Wow. Simply stunning prose.

It’s difficult to say what this book is about. War, comings of age, friendship and love, art, yes—but none of this gets at the depth of humanity portrayed in this book. It’s a gentle, lilting book that will leave you heartsick for Italy, even if you’ve never been.

Exceptional well told story, loved the narration.

still life captured my attention from the very beginning pages. I love the narration that was just perfect. I didn't want the book to end.

Beautifully written

This is beautiful a story of delightful characters, infused with art, philosophy, culture, and history.

Absolutely recommended

Loved every moment! I was travelling in Italy while listening to the author read and it was joyful.

Epic, beautifully written

Excellent narration and story. Well written with compelling characters. I especially liked the Italian setting.

Worth every minute

Wonderful narration, colorful characters. If I ever visit Florence I’ll use this book as a guide.

a ticket to Florence

Sarah Winman's characters are so vivid and touching in word and voice that given the chance, I would buy a ticket to Florence without hesitation to be a third wheel to Ulysses and Cress at the pensioni. I dreaded the last page that would mean goodbye to these friends. I did not want this book to end. And it will not for me. Soon I will buy the hard copy and be entranced again. And this demonstration of how what start as chance encounters can turn into deep human connection will be a guide and reminder for how human preciousness should be handled with care and a sense of adventure in my own life.